Wednesday morning wheeling

Well it is wednesday again and when I am not working that can only mean one thing.

Daisy Hill.

6am.

Bloody cold.

Be there.

Some weren't.

I was.

I met Jim(CFSM) just around the corner from home and we proceeded to wind our way through the Cornubia singletrack to keep speeds down and warmth up. It worked, as I was dripping with sweat by the time we got to the top of the escarpment.

In Daisy we met up with a somewhat smaller group of three others, no doubt in part due to the chilly weather (it is all relative.10 degrees celcius is cold in a sub tropical climate!) and in part the school holidays.

The decision was made to keep moving to stay warm. It seemed to work...

Stonehenge.

......until it began to rain. Just lightly, but the gathering darkness was not a good sign as I had about 10 kilometres to ride home if it did decide to really tip down. Hurried goodbyes and thanks were exchanged as we exited Ripley's and I headed for home.

As I got closer to home the rain seemed to ease, so I decided to take the opportunity to ride the single track again and proceeded down Stupidly Happy, where it looked as if there had been no rain.

Now, as I am sure many people know, I am a slow learner. I bragged about not having the flu all year and pow, sick all last week. I was expounding the virtues of tubeless tyres to Jim this morning. "I have never had a puncture since going tubeless". POW! On a rocky 'G out' I staked the rear tyre on a sharp rock.

Luckily it was only about one kilometre from home so rather than throw a tube in, I walked and scootered down Resurrection into my backyard, wet but happy.

15 minutes early for babysitting duties too!

I will keep my mouth shut in future.

A Varied Week

After Mt Perry there was a fair amount of cleaning and packing away of camping gear. Probably the bit I most dislike about camping, but it makes for an easy camp next time.
Before I know it, it is wednesday and time to gently blow the cobwebs out of the legs with the Regular Daisy Hill Wednesday Morning Ride. As I leave the driveway at 5:15am though I notice that Chris's garage is open with the light on. Ouch, this will hurt! No such thing as a gentle transit to Daisy Hill when accompanying Chris. I seem to set my new record transit times on mornings like this. Surprisingly my legs feel OK this morning, despite the hammering they took at Mt Perry three days earlier. The monday lunch cruise must have done them wonders!
Once at Daisy Hill we met up with four of the regulars for a very brisk ride. Luckily for me Floody noticed I was flagging at certain times and very kindly invoked a flat tyre to slow the pace for some recovery time. Jody asked me to take a photo because people say he never helps, but notice his left foot and Floody tugging at his good tube? If that is how he helps change a flat it is best he stands back and just gives cheek like the rest of us!

When I was suffering again shortly later we had some more of this.

Thanks for a great ride, as usual guys. You have got to LOVE winter in Brisbane!

Thursday was back to work with a quick trip to Bali to relax and prepare for the next Sunshine Series race at Karingal. Tough work and perhaps not the best preparation in hindsight, particularly the bit where we sat up all night at 38 000ft!

Landing at Ngurah Rai

Note the third world smoothness of the runway!

Parking

Beer o'clock.

My Digs.

Home sweet home. You climbers may recognise some of the peaks in the distance. I love how clear the air is after a frontal system scours the contaminants away.

As for the race at Karingal, I started well, within sight of the leaders until the second climb. Then something went "pop" and my thighs felt like they were on fire and just wouldn't push for about a lap. They did come good on the last lap and I managed a safe top 10 finish out of a field of 40!(C grade mens) Happy days!